Guidelines for the

environmental recovery of
quarries in near river areas
(gravel and sand open pit)

Directorate General
Environment, Soil and Coast defense

Guidelines for the environmental recovery of quarries in near river areas (gravel and sand open pit)
Editors
C.Marasmi (1), S.Segadelli (1)
Authors
P.Boggio Tomasaz (2), C.Marasmi (1), F.Ricciardelli (1), A.R.Rizzati (1), M.Romagnoli (1), A.Pelosio (2)
Reviewers
Z.Agioutantis (3), F.Chalkiopoulou (4), S.Solar (5)
SARMa Coordination
Project Coordination S.Solar (5)
Italian Coordination U.Cibin (1), S.Peri (2)
Editing
C.Marasmi (1), S.Segadelli (1)
Layout and graphic
C.Marasmi (1)
Printing
Press Centre of Emilia Romagna-Region, Bologna, Italy
1) Directorate General Environment, Soil and Coast Defence, Emilia-Romagna Region, Italy
2) Territorial Planning Survey, Parma Province, Italy
3) Technical University of Crete, Greece
4) Institute of Geology and Mineral Exploration, Greece
5) Mineral Resource Geologist at Geological Survey of Slovenia

Year of edition 2011

This publication reflects the views only of the author, and the South East Europe Programme Managing Authority cannot be held responsible for
any use which may be made of the information contained therein.

Index

Introduction
Theme policies for a suitable recovery planning

2
5

Operative recommendations for recovery operations

12

Water quality
Hydraulic compatibility
Vegetation planning and planting
Indicators for fauna selection
Operations for educational and recreation use

6
9
10
11
12

INTRODUCTION

The European project SARMa The sustainable management of aggregate resources, of which the Emilia-Romagna Region and the
Province of Parma are the Italian partners, has among its objectives
the definition of guidelines for the remediation of the mining operations environmental impact and their disclosure to civil society,
the operators in the mining field and all those involved in the management of aggregates. The present document derives from the
experiences of the report entitled Guidelines for the environmental recovery of the sites involved in the mining operations in the Po
flood beds in the Provinces of Piacenza, Parma and Reggio Emilia.
The report was approved by the Emila-Romagna Region with DGR
2171/07 and published in 2009, integrated with the report titled The
recovery of the Lanca dei Francesi quarry report from Roccabianca,
Parma (Italy), which is based on the experiences gained at SARMas
pilot site. The aim of this report is to promote the dissemination of
the results at the local, national and international level.
A primary goal of the report is to define a group of planning policies in
the mining sector that will allow achieving acceptable environmental
and landscape quality in the recovery of mining operation sites.
The natural recovery described in this report is not a form of aesthetic
recovery or alleviation of strongly invasive operations, but rather the
best obtainable result in terms of quality recovery and environmental performance in a strongly anthropic context. In fact, besides the
extraction of aggregates, the biggest interventions in the European
river plains derive from the widespread and intense use and from hu-

Guidelines for the environmental recovery

of quarries in near river areas

man settlements that in time have required the implementation of

various safety operations on the waterways. Such operations have
definitely reduced the risk level of floods, but at the same time they
have increased the trivialization of the river areas, to the detriment
of the natural and environmental quality due to loss, degradation or
disappearance of various flora and fauna species.
In spite of the severe problems caused by use and scarcely sustainable management, the waterways still represent areas of high natural
value, especially in the plain territories.
To address this problem in agreement with EU policies and with the
perspective of an integrated management in the river areas, we propose policies and practical actions to ensure that mining operations
become more respectful of natural and environmental points of
view, be designed to reach multiple objectives simultaneously (safety, ecological quality, quality of the waters etc.).
Among these, the natural recovery of quarries in the river areas, in
the above mentioned form, represents a concrete step towards restoring environmental quality and impeding the loss of biodiversity
in the plain territories.
The natural recovery of quarries therefore goes beyond the traditional protectionist perspective, which concludes with the research and
the identification of the remaining territories still possessing natural
values to be placed under restricted protection.
It is important to point out that the term recovery is not used casually as a synonym of various words (restoring, layout, requalification) that indicate the re-layout of the quarries. The term recovery
explicitly means the multiplicity of desirable and feasible actions and
objectives that favour the restoration of the natural equilibrium in
the belonging territorial areas.
A recovered quarry re-introduced in as an element of the territory
does not exclude non-natural recovery solutions (e.g. agricultural, forest, for productive, fishing ends etc.), which also offer opportunities
for an economical yield.

The river environment and in particular the riparian vegetation cannot always be reconstructed in the shape and consistency of earlier
times, because of the continuous evolution of the river and environmental forms, as well as the anthropic pressures. It is therefore not
possible to identify reference conditions based on which to restore
the components and forms of the original river landscape.
However, among the elements characterizing the river areas, the vegetation and landscape currently have the best possibilities of being
used in the recovery of the mining areas, even if with characteristics
different from those found in nature, yet with a significant environmental and ecological value (figure 1 and 2).
figure 1

Guidelines for the environmental recovery

of quarries in near river areas

THEME POLICIES FOR RECOVERY PLANNING

Environmental recovery of a
quarry in a river plain: pre- and
post-mining stage (Source:
Graziano Rossi in Guidelines
for the environmental recovery, Emilia-Romagna, 2003,
Italy)
In fact, mining operations, even though they have a strong impact on
the river areas, they also have suitable requisites for the recovery of
marginal water environments that contribute to the improvement of
the landscape and environmental characteristics of river flood beds.
The alterations caused by the mining operations are such as to allow
a large flexibility in the proposed recovery forms, once the objectives
have been identified. In addition, they permit various project approaches and possibilities to achieving a natural recovery. It is clear that
no operation can lead to the reconstruction of pre-existing environments and landscapes. However, suitable technical operations allow
for the construction of initially completely artificial environments
that can spontaneously evolve towards natural conditions, with similar functions as those of oxbows and dead fluvial branches connected
with the river-bed.

figure 2

Example of natural recovery.

On the whole, the reconstruction of biological and ecological elements as well as of the natural landscape only favours the restoration
of important portions of the river landscape, the construction and
the improvement of flood beds and riverside habitats (in particular
of transition environments), the creation of ecological passages, and
the diversification of the agro-ecosystems. This means significant integration with the objectives of socio-economical operations and the
enhancement of the hinterland, as it also supports the improvement
of tourism, re-creative and educational functions of the area (figure
3).
During the planning and project phase, we must therefore:
define the existing and reference valuable ecological, natural
and landscape characteristics of the flood-bed area where the
mining operations are located and of the larger area inside and
outside the flood-bed with which there are identifiable and conjecturable ties;
identify the potential natural emergencies for the area;
define the procedures and modalities of recovery according to
the preservation, the enhancement and the construction of these characteristics and emergencies, identifying functional solutions to reach these objectives.
In a broader context, planning steps must be defined by joining and
verifying the sector policies according to the recovery procedures, in order to ensure the necessary synergy between the restored
flood-bed area and the broader territorial system, so that the river
can re-establish its links with the territory. In order to guarantee the
continued preservation of the implemented recoveries, it is strategic
for the local governments and the various socio-economical entities
to be involved in the project choices and in the management of the
reconstructed structures: this operational mode, which can also be
enforced by different types of agreements, represents the best approach for sustainable development, as it enables enhancing the resources and the economical opportunities that can be found within
the river environment.

The water quality

The environmental planning of the quarries in flood-bed areas must
aim to achieve high-level water quality, in compliance with the relative European Community norms, depending on the several intended uses of the site after the recovery (fishing, non-swimming water
sports, river tourism, fish breeding, environmental educations etc.).
In particular the following aspects are to be considered:
planning of hydraulic revitalization (such as communication
channels with the river) according to the maximum mining depth
foreseen for the quarry, in order to maintain sufficient oxygen levels of the entire water body;
modelling of the quarry site based on the geometry of the lake

The excavation depth must be such as to not intercept the waters of

the main water course during the low-water summer period, in order
to avoiding that the hydraulic connection channel become a secondary branch of the river active during the entire year.
Furthermore, once hydraulic safety has been verified, from an ecohydrologic point of view, it is better to have one big lake rather than
many little lakes with equal amount of water volume.
In order to favour the oxygenation of the water masses, we must
furthermore promote the development of the shallow water coastal

Guidelines for the environmental recovery

of quarries in near river areas

basin that optimizes the relation between oxygenated surface

water masses and asphyxiated deep waters;
construction of phytoremediation modules that intercept the
surface waters in the channels that direct polluted waters to the
lake system;
ecological re-equilibration of the water masses and the marginal damp areas as a complement of the environmental recovery
operations that have to be completed by the end of the mining
works;
identification of sustainable environmental operations (noncompromising for the water environment), by the analysis of the
evolutive tendency of water quality according to different types
of use and the anthropic pressure.
During the project phase, we must consider that thermal conditions
are largely connected to the depth of a lake: the deeper the lake, the
higher the stability of the summer thermal gradient. As the depth increases so does the risk that the de-oxygenation of deep waters may
become permanent.
The thermal stratification may be interrupted by the introduction of
water channel or pipes connected to the river; the colder water entering f the lake determines the recirculation and the resurfacing of
the hypolimnic masses of water (running waters are generally colder
than stagnant waters). It is therefore desirable to have a connection
between the river line and the quarry basin, once issues of hydraulic
safety have been settled.

figure 3

Improved functionality of an
ecological passage in a quarry. (Source: Guido Sardella in
Guidelines for the environmental recovery, Emilia-Romagna, 2003, Italy).

8
figure 4

Arrangement
islands.

of

floating

areas that are favourable to the growth of underwater vegetation.

On the whole, the coastal strip is remarkably important for the settlement of diversified flora and fauna that are typical of the river marginal environment.
Fragmentation of the lake geometry can be obtained from the modelling of the shallow water areas and with the construction of islands (figure 4). The presence of islands and side reliefs can increase the
roughness of the alluvial plain in the excavation areas. The making
of islands can furthermore enhance the restored system, especially regarding its ability to provide reproduction and feeding sites for
the fauna that can colonize these environments, as well as forming a
refuge during the floods. Towards these goals, we can also consider
possibility of reusing the surface outcrop removed from the quarry
area. As we already know, the layer of fertile soil must be stockpiled
and reused during the recovery operations, in particular for the planting of trees and of vegetal species. The clayish material can instead
be reused for the construction of the island or islands.
Another factor that characterizes and controls the trophic condition
of the lake ecosystem is the structure of the vegetal community.
The natural filter function performed by the macrophytes in controlling of the loose inorganic nutrients can be used for the breakdown
of the burdens that enter the quarry basin, by the construction of
phytoremediation plants along the feeding channels.
Besides the above mentioned operations (depth limits, insertion of
phytoremediation plants along the feeding channels) for the control
of loose-inorganic-nutrients concentration of, it could be favourable
to create, at least in some sectors of the basin, a river bank configuration that foresees the presence of a shallow area (30-40cm are enough) and subject to periodic floods (especially in the summer period, a
critical phase for the lake system) that separates the shore colonized
by a bed of reeds/fens from the deeper part of the basin.
The discontinuity and the alternation of flooding and dry periods allows the re-oxidation of the sediments and the regeneration of the
biochemical buffers, with the consequent control of the nutrient regeneration of sediments and of the algal blossoming.
Besides the shore configuration, the shape of the vertical section of
the basin is important. The same excavation depth can be reached by
making the basins with different conformations. There are two main
types:
In the case of a lake configuration with single slope shaping, the lake
profile is basically that of a truncated cone, with the addition of a
surface safety berm along the banks. This configuration modality is
definitely the most unfavourable from an ecological point of view, as
it does not entail any reduction in the existing relations between the
surface volume and the anoxic deep water volume; therefore it does
not influence the risk of anoxia which can occur at the bottom of the
lake in the summer period.
In the case of multiple-step shaping , the lake configuration is similar

Hydraulic compatibility
The planning of an environmental recovery operation of aggregate
quarries located in river flood beds should not omit an analysis of the
hydraulic compatibility of the operation itself.
The hydraulic compatibility analysis has to be organized so as to take
into consideration, on a case by case basis, the specific phenomena
that distinguish the current and potential hydrodynamic structure of
the involved stretch of waterways, and the response of the river-bed
to the modifications caused by the operations and additional works.
To set up the analysis, the following general principles need to be
considered:
the hydrodynamics of water currents is never static but evolves
more or less rapidly in time, due to natural or anthropogenic factors;
the understanding of the related evolution tendencies is essential as it allows assessing the hydraulic behaviour at a river line
level;
every operation in the river-bed of a water way entails a disturbance of the morphological, geometric and hydraulic characteristics of the water way itself;
the response of the waterway to disturbances is defined both
at a local level but also in the neighbouring mountain and valley
areas, both on a short and medium-long term;
in general, the effects of an individual operation on an extended
river line are not significant, while the accumulated effects during various operations may become important.
The definition of the hydraulic compatibility of the recovery operations must therefore start from the overall quantification of the modifications caused by the mining operations and by the same environmental recovery project on the structure of the water ways. The
analysis must be carried out on two levels:
on a river line scale, for the entire stretch that is potentially influenced by the ensemble of the foreseen operations;
on a local scale, for a stretch of the river potentially influenced
(normally of a minor extension).

Guidelines for the environmental recovery

of quarries in near river areas

to a series of overlapping truncated cones with a progressively lower

diameter; this configuration aims to reduce the deep water volume
and the risk of anoxia in the summer period. Basically, this particular shape involves a series of steps along the lake shores, located at
increasing depths from the countryside plan. This layout entails a
strong ecological enhancement of the newly formed lake basin, as it
reduces the risk of strong anoxia conditions in the summer that could
jeopardize the overall quality of the system.

On a river line scale

The objective is to assess the compatibility of the planned operations
on the entire stretch of the river line involved. It is therefore important that the operation effects are analyzed in reference to two components:
the morphological structure of the active riverbed, according to
the solid transport balance and the presence of hydraulic works;
the morphological structure of the flood riverbed according to
water profiles, hydraulic safety and the presence of defence works.
On a local scale

10

The components of a river system entering the analysis are the same
as those used on a river line scale. However, the in-depth levels differ,
in proportion to the planning condition and the importance of the
operation, and the available analysis and investigation tools.
According to the characteristics of the involved river system, the
compatibility analyses to perform must therefore relate to the following aspects:
the stability of the morphological structure of the active riverbed
and of the hydraulic works;
the hydraulic condition of the flooding river-bed (geomorphological aspects, functionality of the hydraulic defence works) and
the associated overflow risk conditions;
the solid transport balance and the phenomena of erosion/transport/deposit of river-bed material;
the ordinary and low-water hydrological flow, according to the
hydrometric altitudes and the flooding frequencies of the floodbed areas.

Vegetation planning and system

The species composition and the layout of the plants to be planted
should be studied based on various requirements:
ecological: reconstruction and enhancement of the general river
ecosystem; creation of suitable conditions for the settlement
and sustainable development of wildlife;
hydraulic: lack of interference with the water flow during flooding events; local control of the erosive action of water;
practical-management: limiting the costs, favourable post-closure management operations.
However, among all the variables, the hydraulic requirements represent the cornerstone of the restoration plan. The issue of hydraulic
safety can be analyzed in terms of two different requirements:
general: the outflow of flooding waters must be guaranteed in
order to avoid management and overflow problems;

local: the water passage must be controlled in order to avoid

erosion phenomena in the floodplain that could endanger works
localized in the river-bed or in areas further away.
From a practical point of view, we must always refer to the hydraulic
studies: once the final morphology layout of the area has been defined, it is possible through the application of models to define control parameters (speed of the current, and resistance of the various
species) on the basis of which to then choose the type of vegetation
(shrubby, arboreal) and its characteristics (layout, density etc.) as
well as the shore stabilization operations of the created basins.
The lake areas following the mining operations are characterized by
ample surfaces with limited hydraulic high, where have to be installed o can spontaneously develop an herbaceous riparian (reeds, reed
mace, sedges and rushes) and hydrophyte vegetation. Around these
vegetal species it have to create dense forest areas in order to increase the resistance to water flow.
In the environmental recovery actions, the use of autochthonous
genetic material and material of local origin is the normal procedure especially in those cases in which there is little knowledge of the
genetic consequences due to the introduction of allochthonous genotypes. In fact, the preservation of the genetic diversity of the local
populations is the first important strategy to implement in order to
guarantee the preservation of the species.
The procurement of seeds of autochthonous species from a known
or selected origin to be used in the re-vegetation projects therefore
constitutes a crucial point for the correct handling of degraded systems and the preservation of the biodiversity. The nursery market,
in the absence of adequate prescriptive and binding national norms,
does not typically care about the origin of the plant seeds it produces
and markets, especially for the herbaceous species. It is therefore recommended to collect the seeds from nature and other propagation
material from autochthonous and local populations, diversifying the
sites and the mother plants in order to avoid excessive regularity.

Indicators for fauna selection

To verify the risk situations we must refer to the most updated and
specific assessments on the species preservation priorities and the
indicators concerning the species most endangered of extinction
(Enclosure I of the 79/409/EC directive and subsequent modifications
and Enclosure I of the 92/43/EC Directive).
To this end we must add information concerning the protection measures or the threat status contained in the directives, conventions
and International publications, such as the Berne Convention (as under L.503/81), the Bonn Convention (as under L.42/83), SPEC Birdlife International 1994 and Red Data Book IUCN 1996.
It is however necessary to carry out operations that improve the en-

Guidelines for the environmental recovery

of quarries in near river areas

11

vironmental conditions of the quarries, which are generally degraded

before the recovery compared to the natural damp areas.
Artificial basins usually have very steep banks and excessively deep
water. In fact most of the amphibians prefer shallow areas with gentle and gradual inclination where vegetation sequences grow and
the prevailing temperatures allow food and shelter not only for the
adults but also for larvae (the larvae prefer areas where the water
depth varies from a few centimetres to about one meter). Also the
creation of islands and sandbank peninsulas with shore areas with
shallow waters contribute to the creation of a favourable environment. Other recreated environments that have proved to be suitable
are the bed of reeds or reed maces with deeper free internal (clear)
areas that do not allow the settlement of reeds.

Operations for educational and recreational use

12

For the flood bed area, the potential orientations for use can be divided into three operation lines:
touristic-recreational enhancement that can be implemented
through minor environmental impacts, such as bicycle lanes,
exercise trails, picnic water sport and areas (rowing, canoes etc.);
enhancement for environmental education (figure 5), if the area
possesses appropriate features, such as the coexistence of a relict environment (abandoned oxbows) and an artificial environment which is created during operations that intend to alleviate
the mining operations in the flood bed;
pole-equipped organization for ecological and hydrobiological
research with a management policy aim; the reference outline is
that of ecology of the riverside areas, of the damp areas, of the
buffer strips, etc.

OPERATIVE RECOMMENDATIONS FOR RECOVERY

OPERATIONS
The guidelines hereby proposed supply policies and methodological
indications for the natural and ecological requalification of the river
environments with the aims of restoring the altered natural equilibrium, favouring the preservation and development of the vegetal
and animal biodiversity and improving the functions and environmental and landscape values in flood bed areas.
Furthermore, they aim at directing the recovery actions towards
stable conditions, while also identifying the possibility of sustainable uses. The natural recovery described above does not constitute
a form of aesthetic recovery or alleviation of strongly invasive operations, but should rather be viewed as the best obtainable result in
terms of quality recovery and environmental performance in a strongly anthropized context.

figure 5

River regions are strongly conditioned by anthropization characteristics. They are hydraulic systems whose structure is mainly artificial
and whose flow is dominated by protection works and layouts made
directly on the flow main direction, as well as by the hydrological and
geomorphological conditions of the area. The requalification operations must therefore be directed towards methodological approaches that pursue recovery of the natural morphological evolution
of the river in a way that is compatible with the preservation of the
protection works and with the internal navigation requirements as
well as the maintenance of the artificial structure.

The recovered quarry area must emerge not as a territorial enclave disconnected from the surrounding territory, constituting
perhaps a natural area protected by bans and restrictions, nor as
an alleviation of an environmental and landscape violation destined to hide from the public, but as the catalyst for new territory
organizational forms closely tied to it, leading to the creation of
new interesting elements.
The recovered quarry must be inserted in the network of floodplains channel and touristic paths, individuated as an example
of sustainable use of territory resources;
The recovered quarry must be integrated for the normal use in
the flood bed territory, without a priori excluding seemingly incompatible operations, such as hunting or non-natural recovery
solutions (e.g. agricultural, forest, fishing use etc.), that can provide opportunities for economical benefits;
The natural recovery of the quarries in the river area is a concrete
response that restores environmental quality and impedes the
loss of biodiversity in the plain territories.
The recovered quarry can become a significant cultural and educational opportunity, a tool for understanding the territory, its
history and its use along three different lines:
1) as a touristic-recreational pole of attraction;
2) as an open classroom for environmental education;
3) as a centre for the development of ecological and hydro
biological research with applications in management poli
cies.
The recovery plans should involve the owner, The natural recovery approaches described above aim to obtain the best possi-

Guidelines for the environmental recovery

of quarries in near river areas

The Guidelines are mainly addressed to official entities qualified in

territorial management and sector planners; they supply useful elements for defining the objectives and the characteristics of the recovery procedures of mining sites, as well as the territory planning procedures according to the sector policies. Furthermore, they aim at
offering administrators, technicians and sector operators applicable
policies and models to use as a guide in the management of various
functions and activities in the mining sector.

13

Poggio Berni post-quarrying

restoration, (Rimini, Italy):
example of recovery resulting
to an outdoor geological museum

ble result in terms of quality recovery and environmental performance in a highly anthropized context instead of attempting
the full aesthetic recovery of the area from a strongly invasive
operation.

14

www.sarmaproject.eu
www.ermesambiente.it/difesasuolo